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Clean-IngredientRecipe

Maple Chai Concentrate (Clean-Ingredient)

The BYOB Team30 min1 batch (about 6 servings, 4oz concentrate each)~$1.03/serving (~$6.15 per batch, makes ~6 servings)105 cal/serving

Compare the 3 tiers of this drink

Same drink, three ways. Clean-Ingredient is our top recommendation -- Standard and Sugar-Free are the other options.

Clean-Ingredient

Maple Chai Concentrate (Clean-Ingredient)

Key ingredient
Real maple syrup with whole steeped spices (no refined sugar)
Cost per serving
$1.03
Calories
105
Sugar
~26g sugar per 4oz serving, all from real maple syrup -- a similar amount to the Standard tier, not less
Standard

Chai Concentrate (Standard) →

Key ingredient
Cane sugar with black tea and ground chai spices
Cost per serving
$0.17
Calories
98
Sugar
~25g added sugar per 4oz serving
Sugar-Free

Sugar-Free Chai Concentrate →

Key ingredient
Monk fruit/allulose syrup with black tea and ground chai spices
Cost per serving
$0.48
Calories
2
Sugar
~0g added sugar (monk fruit/allulose sweetener, not sugar)

Ingredients & steps

Clean-Ingredient

Ingredients

  • 4 cups water
  • 1-inch piece fresh ginger, sliced
  • 12 whole green cardamom pods, lightly crushed
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 8 whole cloves
  • 1/4 tsp whole black peppercorns
  • 1 star anise pod (optional, but traditional)
  • 2 tbsp loose-leaf black tea (e.g. Assam), or 6-8 black tea bags
  • 3/4 cup pure maple syrup

Steps

  1. 1.Combine the water with the ginger, cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, cloves, peppercorns, and star anise (if using) in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes to fully extract the whole spices -- this takes noticeably longer than ground spices need.
  2. 2.Remove from heat, add the loose-leaf tea (or tea bags), cover, and steep for 5 minutes.
  3. 3.Strain through a fine-mesh strainer to catch the tea leaves and spice pieces, pressing the solids to extract the liquid, then strain a second time through a coffee filter or cheesecloth-lined strainer for a clear, sediment-free concentrate.
  4. 4.Stir in the maple syrup while the liquid is still warm until fully combined.
  5. 5.Let cool completely, then store in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to 1 week. Use 4oz per drink, combined roughly 1:1 with steamed milk.

Not medical or nutrition advice. Calorie figures on this page are estimates based on typical ingredient values, not a lab analysis of your exact batch — they'll shift with the brand of milk, syrup, or protein powder you actually use. "Clean-ingredient" and "sugar-free" describe what's in the recipe, not a health claim. If you're managing diabetes, a caffeine sensitivity, pregnancy, or another condition, check with a doctor or dietitian before making a recipe part of your routine. Read the full disclaimer.

This is the concentrate behind our Clean-Ingredient Chai Latte – real maple syrup standing in for the cane sugar our Standard concentrate uses, and whole spices slowly simmered instead of ground spices dissolved straight into the water. Ground spices whisked into water disperse fine on their own; simmering whole cardamom pods, a cinnamon stick, and cloves for longer pulls a rounder, deeper flavor out of the spices, which is why this tier takes a real 15-minute simmer and a double strain where the Standard concentrate gets away with 5 minutes and no straining at all.

What “Clean-Ingredient” Means Here

Black tea, whole spices, and real maple syrup – three kinds of ingredients you could read off the label without a dictionary, and no pre-mixed “chai spice blend” of unknown ratios. No dissolved ground-spice sediment, no gums, nothing you couldn’t name. Like our other Clean-Ingredient syrups, this isn’t a lower-sugar swap – maple syrup carries a similar amount of sugar to cane sugar, gram for gram. The upgrade here is ingredient sourcing and a rounder, more complex spice flavor from the whole-spice infusion, not fewer calories.

Batch Cost, Real-Maple Version
This batch (6 servings)$6.15 total
Per 4oz serving~$1.03

Assumptions: real maple syrup at typical grocery pricing (~$8-9 for a 12oz bottle, same figure our other Clean-Ingredient syrups use), whole cardamom pods, a cinnamon stick, whole cloves, star anise, and loose-leaf black tea at typical grocery/spice-aisle pricing. Whole spices, real maple, and loose-leaf tea are all pricier than their standard-tier equivalents, which is why this is the most expensive of the three chai tiers. See the Clean-Ingredient Chai Latte for the full per-drink math against café pricing.

Storage & Shelf Life

  • Keeps about 1 week in a sealed jar in the fridge – same as the other two tiers. Brewed tea is the limiting factor here, not the sweetener, so real maple doesn’t buy this concentrate a longer shelf life.
  • Double the batch if you go through chai lattes quickly – everything scales evenly (8 cups water, 2-inch ginger, 24 cardamom pods, and so on).

Swaps & Notes

  • No loose-leaf tea on hand? 6-8 black tea bags work fine in its place – steep the same 5 minutes and lift them out instead of straining.
  • In a hurry? Ground spices work in a pinch (whisk in the same amounts as the Standard recipe’s cinnamon/ginger/cardamom/cloves/pepper during the simmer step instead of the whole versions), but you lose the rounder flavor the whole-spice steep is built around – the extra 10-15 minutes is worth it if you can spare it.
  • This isn’t a lower-sugar or lower-calorie recipe. Chai shares the same honest note as our Caramel and Cinnamon Dolce Clean-Ingredient syrups: swapping cane sugar for maple trades one concentrated sugar for another. If lower sugar is your goal, see the Sugar-Free Chai Concentrate instead.

What to Make With This

4oz of this concentrate, combined with 4oz of steamed milk, is the Clean-Ingredient Chai Latte. If cost matters more than ingredient sourcing, the Chai Concentrate (Standard) uses the same core flavor with cane sugar and ground spices; if minimizing sugar is the priority, see the Sugar-Free Chai Concentrate.

Recipe Card Summary

Maple Chai Concentrate (Clean-Ingredient)

  • 4 cups water, whole ginger/cardamom/cinnamon/cloves/peppercorns/star anise, loose-leaf black tea, 3/4 cup maple syrup
  • Makes ~6 servings (4oz each) · Prep: 5 min · Total: 30 min (mostly simmering + cooling)
  • Cost: ~$6.15/batch, ~$1.03/serving

FAQ

Is this actually lower in sugar than the Standard chai concentrate?

No, and we don’t want to imply otherwise – it’s a similar amount of sugar, just from maple instead of refined cane sugar. If lower sugar is your goal, see the Sugar-Free Chai Concentrate.

Why whole spices instead of ground?

Whole cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, and cloves release their oils more slowly and evenly during a longer simmer, which pulls a rounder, less one-note spice flavor than dissolving ground spices does. It also means no sediment settling at the bottom of the jar, since the whole pieces get strained back out.

Do I need to make this every time I want a latte?

No – one batch covers about 6 drinks over the course of a week. The Clean-Ingredient Chai Latte recipe assumes you already have a jar on hand.

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